Neptune on High

Roy Lucianna's poetry, like everything else about him, is by turns sharp, puckish, and deeply wise-but always, always heartfelt, real as rain, and defiantly human. He devoted himself for decades to the Tao, and mastered and taught taiji and qi-gong to many hundreds of acolytes. An artist whose work explored all aspects of these spiritual pursuits, he performed as well in an array of musical settings. Gathered here are those poems he wished to preserve in easily accessible form. As was true of all his work, he wanted to send them into the ocean of the Tao. Mr. Lucianna held a B.A. from New York University, an M.A. from Hunter College, and engaged in Ph.D. studies in Medieval and Modern Art at Columbia University.